Mail catching and delivering device.



I A. J. HUGHES.

MAIL GATOHING AND DELIVERING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 11. 1909.

Patented June 28, 1910.

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ALBERT J. HUGHES, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

MAIL CATCHING AND DELIVERING DEVICE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT J. HUGHES, a citizen of the United States,residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota,have invented a new and useful Mail Catching and Delivery Device, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mail-bag catchers of the kind by which amoving mail car catches and delivers mail-bags at stations where thetrain does not stop; and the object is to provide a very efficient andreliable device of said kind.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a top or plan view of mydevice arranged on the ground near a railway track and on a portion of amail car adjacent thereto on the track, the roof or upper part of thecar being removed. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a mail car in the actof passing a station equipped with my invention. Fig. 3 is a crosssection on the line a-a in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a sectional top View on theline bb in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is an enlarged side View of a rotary post anda netting held by it for taking the blow of a mail-bag that is deliveredfrom the car. Fig. 6 is a top View of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a mail pouch orbag with a strap around it for purposes to be later described. Fig. 8 isFig. 7 with the strap differently arranged. Fig. 9 is a detail side viewof one of the catcher arms mounted on the car for catching themail-bags. Fig. 10 is a top View of Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is a modification ofthe upper portion of Fig. 1. Fig. 12 is a side View of one of thetable-supporting bars in the Fig. 11 and one of the tables restingthereon. Fig. 13 is an end view of Fig. 12. Fig. 14 is a verticalsection on the line cc in Fig. 11 with the bag catching hook in dottedlines in one position and full lines in another position.

Referring to the drawings by reference numerals, 1 designates a mail-carsupposed to be moving along on rails 2 of a railroad. Between theopposite doors 3 of the car I secure upon the floor of the car (as inFig. 1) two rails or bars 4, which are supported at their ends somedistance above the floor. On these rails slide bearings 5 which arefixed at the underside of a table 6, which may thus be moved on therails to project out at either side of the car, as shown in dotted linesin Fig. 3, or to the middle of the fioor to permit closing of either orboth of the regular doors of such cars.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 11, 1909.

Patented June 28, 1910.

Serial No. 471,607.

Upon each end of the table is pivoted at 7 a spring fork 8, and at eachside thereof is fixed a catcher arm 9, near the free end of which ispivotally suspended a guarding finger 10 (see Fig. 9), which hangsnormally downward as shown in full lines and may be swung inward asshown in dotted lines.

At or near the station is fixed to the railway ties 11 or to the groundbeyond them a plank or platform 12, upon which are fixed at a suitabledistance apart, two similar frames 18, and half way between said framesis fixed a standard 14, upon which is mounted to rotate a post 15. Nearthe top of said post is journaled a shaft 16, having its short endretained by a pin 17 and its long end extended sufiiciently beyond thepost to support the upper end of a frame 18 on which is fixed a netting19. The latter is slack and bulging in the middle so that the mail pouchthrown from the car and hitting it will land in it and revolve the postuntil the momentum of the bag is spent, and thus come to a standstillwithout being damaged. In order to make this part of my inventioneffective for catching mail bags from cars moving in either direction,the post is provided with a bracket 20 (see Fig. 6) having two notches21 and 22, into either of which the adjacent edge of the frame may besprung and thus hold the net alternately in oppositely slantingpositions according to the direction from which the mail is expected.Besides slanting the net as described, the frame of it is always turnedtoward the track of the road as in Fig. 1 when it is to catch mail.

On each of the frames or stands 13 is fixed a catcher arm 23 pointinghorizontally one away from the other. There is also pivoted on eachstand a spring fork or clas 25, and adjacent thereto is fixed a U-shapeshield 24, whose lower portion supports the mail bag 26 (see Fig. 2) tobe taken by the car, while the upper part of the shield protects the bagfrom rain and snow. Said shields slant horizontally toward the car withthe ends 27.

In the operation of the device, the mail bag to be delivered from thecar is placed upon the outer end of the table 6, as in dotted lines 26in Fig. l and a strap 28 is taken across it as in Fig. 8. Said strap hasat one end an elongated ring 29, which is placed upon the fork, and atits other end a round ring 30, which is spring-held by its upper edgebetween the springy tines of the fork 8 as shown in said Fig. 8. The bag26 that is to be delivered to the car is placed upon the stand 13 thatis the last one of the two for the car to pass; that is, the stand tothe right in Figs. 1 and 2, the car moving in the direction of the arrow31.

On the last mentioned bag the strap 28 is applied in the manner shown inFig. 7 by taking it once or twice around the bag. The end with the roundring is then inserted through the oblong ring, the bag is placed on thestand as in Fig. 1 (where the shield is partly broken away to expose thebag to view) and the round ring is pushed between the tines of the fork25 in suspended position below the fork and the latter is turned towardthe car track. With the parts thus arranged, when the car comes along,the ring 30 suspended from the fork 'or clasp 8 on the car is caught bythe arm 23 as shown to the left in Figs. 1 and 2. This pulls the bagfrom thecar and as the ring 29 leaves the clasp 8, said clasp is turnedto one side as in Fig. 1 and the mail bag is by the motion of the carthrown as shown at 26 in Fig. 2 against the net 18, with the resultalready described. The further motion of the car causes the catcher arm9 of the car to engage in the suspended ring 30 at the stand. Thisswings the clasp 25 in the clirection the car is moving, snatching fromit the said ring and throwing the mail bag 26 into the car, the lattermotion of the bag being partly effected by the slanting position of theshield 24:, which acts as an inclined plane against the outer side ofthe bag as the car pulls it along to remove it from the stand. Shouldthe bag rebound out of the car, or be poorly delivered to the car owingto extra slow or extra high speed of the car, the latch 10 on the armwill prevent escape-of the ring therefrom and the bag will be hanging onthe arm until taken in by some occupant of the mail car. This willhardly ever happen but I mention it to show the utter completeness ofthe device. If the car moves in the opposite direction the catcher arms9 and 23 will operate in the same manner as the arms 9 and 23 in theoperation just described.

In the modification Fig. 11 is shown that the catcher arms 9 and 9 maybe mounted on the side of the car, where they rock in bearings 32 andare each provided with a rocker arm 33, which is operated by a catch 34:on the adjacent corner of the table 6, so that when the latter is pushedout to its limit the catcher arms will stand out from the side of thecar, in operative position as shown, and when the table is moved intothe car the catcher arms will fold and hang downward to the side of thecar. In said view the table is also modified by being made in twosections or independent tables 6*, each of which has its own pair ofrails P, to one of which the table is permanently hinged by two of itssupporting bearings 5*, serving as hinges in raising up the table out ofthe way as in the upper part of Fig. 11, near one of the inclosures orpartitions 35, common in such cars. The other bearings 5 are open intheir lower ends as shown in Fig. 13 to permit raising of the table,still they are not as open as to rise from any and all parts of the railbut only when one of them is moved to a laterally reduced por tion 36 ofthe rail and the other is passed beyond the inner end of the rail, whichis made possible by notching the support of that end of the rail, as at37 in Fig. 13. The table is held in the upright position by any suitablemeans (not shown) or may simply lean against the screen 85'if the latteris far enough away to give the table the necessary incline to keep it inthat position. The advantage of these modifications are, that the tableswill be more out of the way for handling heavy mails to and from the carand the longitudinal central aisle or passage through the car is alsoleft unobstructed by the rails for the tables. It will be understoodhowever that where so de sired the obstruction caused by the rails maybe almost entirely removed by either lowering the rails flush with thefloor in grooves formed in the floor when the car is being built, orwhich may be formed upon an existing floor by nailing woodwork upon it ahigh as the rails and bevel the outer edges thereof or else let itextend all over the floor of the car.

WVhile the invention is very efficient as an actual mail bag catcherwhen made of the proper size for that purpose, I may also use it for theexchanging of packages of any kind to and from a moving carrier of anydescription, and when made of an appropriate size the device will be aninteresting toy for children to play with.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A mail-catchercomprising a table adapted to be projected from the door opening of amail car, a clasp pivoted to swing horizontally upon the projected endof the table, two' oppositely pointing horizontal catcher arms carriedby the car, two stands on the ground near the car track, on each stand aclasp pivoted to swing horizontally thereon and adjacent thereto asupport for a mail bag, a horizontal catcher arm on each stand, each armpointing in opposite direction and away from the other arm, two straps,each of which is adapted to be taken around a mail bag and having ateach end a ring, the ring at one end being adapted to pass through thering at the other end, all to be operatedsubstantially as set forth.

2. A mail catcher comprising a table adapted to be projected from thedoor opening of a mail car, a clasp pivoted to swing horizontally uponthe projected end of the table, two oppositely pointing horizontalcatcher arms carried by the car, two stands on the ground near the cartrack, on each stand a clasp pivoted to swing horizontally thereon andadjacent thereto a support for a mail bag, a horizontal catcher arm oneach stand, each arm pointing in opposite direction and away from theother arm, two straps, each of which is adapted to be taken around amail bag and having at each end a ring, the ring at one end beingadapted to pass through the ring at the other end, a round standardfixed intermediate of the stands, a post turning on the standard, aframed net projecting from one side of the post and means on the postfor holding the net in oppositely inclined positions, all to be operatedas described.

3. A mailcatcher comprising a table adapted to be projected from thedoor opening of a mail car, a clasp pivoted to swing horizontally uponthe projected end of the table, two oppositely pointing horizontalcatcher arms carried by the car, two stands on the ground near thecar-track, on each stand a clasp pivoted to swinghorizontally thereonand adjacent thereto a support for a mail bag, a horizontal catcher armon each stand, each arm pointing in opposite direction and away from theother arm, two straps, each of which is adapted to be taken around amail bag and having at each end a ring, the ring at one end beingadapted to pass through the ring at the other end, said table beingslidably mounted in the car and so related to the catcher arms as tocause them to project into active position beyond the side of the carwhen the table is projected out of the car door to support the mail bagto be delivered from the car.

4. The combination with a mail car, of one or more tables adapted to beprojected out of the open doors of the car, of rail bars fixed to thecar and bearings slidable thfipeon and fixed to the under side of the tae.

5. The combination with a mail car, of one or more tables adapted to beprojected out of the open doors of the car, of rail bars fixed to thecar and bearings slidable thereon and fixed to the under side of thetable, the bearing on one rail being detachable from the rail when thetable is retracted into the car, the bearings on the other rail servingas hinges on which to swing the table to an edgewise standing positionin the car.

6. A mail-bag catching and delivering device involving a strap adaptedto engage amail bag, said strap having at one end an elongated ring andat the other end a round ring adapted to be passed through the elongatedring and be placed in such a position that a catcher arm may pass intoit, and catcher arms on the device for engaging said ring.

7. A mail-bag catching device involving one or more stands fixed on theground near the track on which a mail car moves, each stand beingadapted to support a mail bag, a guiding shield on the stand adjacentthe bag supporting point, said shield arranged at an angle to the trackfor directing the bag toward the car, and means on the car for catchingthe bag from said stand.

8. A mail-bag catching device involving one or more stands fixed on theground near the track on which a mail car moves, each stand beingadapted to support a mail bag, a guiding shield on the stand adjacentthe bag supporting point, said shield arranged at an angle to the trackfor directing the bag toward the car, and means on the car for catchingthe bag from said stand; said shield extending up along the side of thebag farthest from the road and being curved toward the road to form aroof over the bag, for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT J. HUGHES.

Witnesses:

GEORGE LA F 0ND, JOHN G. Trans.

